Warriors’ season comes to end

Friday

Nov 2, 2012 at 12:34 AMNov 2, 2012 at 12:37 AM

Woodland falls to host Schlarman in sectional final

Erich Murphy

Halloween was Wednesday but Danville Schlarman’s volleyball team spooked Woodland with a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde impression Thursday. After not looking all that strong in defeating LeRoy on Tuesday, the Hilltoppers were overpowering in dismantling Woodland 25-18, 25-14 to win the Schlarman Sectional title. The Warriors end their season at 27-9. Schlarman improves to 29-5 and will take on Mt. Pulaski Saturday night at the Woodland Supersectional. Mt. Pulaski defeated Sciota West Prairie at Williamsfield. “This was not the team we saw play Tuesday night. They must have brought their ‘A’ game,” WHS head coach Betty Lowe said. “They weren’t cranking like that on Tuesday. They were not playing defense like that on Tuesday night. They were definitely several steps up from when we scouted them.” Schlarman defeated LeRoy 25-18, 25-22 in a seemingly uninteresting manner. Behind Laura Gross, Jordan Marganski and Janelle Marion, the Hilltoppers attacked Woodland with gusto. “We were a little bit more fired up. Tuesday night not everybody was firing on all cylinders,” SHS head coach Heidi Crane said. “Tonight was their final chance at home and they wanted to go out with a win. “When the girls are swinging, they’re going to put the balls away. We’re very lucky to have a strong offensive line.” Leading the attacking charge were Gross and Marganski with a combined 19 kills in the two sets. Schlarman had 26 kills for the night and Woodland managed 16. Schlarman was not holding back on this night. Even in warm-ups, the Hilltoppers were smacking the ball with authority. That continued in the first game. Gross got the first of her match-high 11 kills on a hard smash that tied the game at 2-2. Kassidy Kimpling got a kill to make it 3-2 but that was the last time Woodland led on the night. Schlarman came back with a tip from Gross and was up 5-4 when Marganski delivered her first of 8 bombs on the night. The Toppers began pulling away on a pair of Gross smashes that made it 13-7 and forced a Woodland timeout. The margin grew to 24-14 before the Warriors provided a glimpse of life. WHS rallied behind the serving of Josie Walker hitting errors by Schlarman. This little spurt of four points showed that although the Warriors were outgunned, they weren’t going down without a fight. The best illustration of this came in the second set when Megan Beutke and Sara Spaniol went after a ball in the bench area. Both crashed into the chairs while keeping the ball in play during the rally. Cheyenne Meredith eventually got the point for Woodland with a hard kill down the line. Megan Kacvinsky followed with an ace but Schlarman had a 10-5 lead at that point and the Warriors could get no closer. “The play that we went crashing into our seats and played it back out, that says what kind of heart we played with,” Lowe said. “Unfortunately, we just didn’t have enough to shut down the middle. We got beat by a better team tonight.” Schlarman’s lead grew to 22-13 after kills from Gross and Marganski. Woodland’s final successful attack came moments later when Josie Walker put one down. The match ended with a hard spike straight down by Marganski. “They were able to not make any mistakes,” Lowe said of the Hilltoppers. “They got to everything. I thought we were pretty well prepared and had places to get to, but they covered them tonight that they didn’t get to Tuesday.” Seniors Josie Walker had 6 kills for the Warriors while Sydney Walker and Meredith each delivered 3. Beutke and Josie Walker had 3 service points apiece. Woodland managed just 12 for the match. “They have made a new tradition to Woodland, they have given a bar that is really high,” Lowe said of her seniors. “The challenge is there for the underclassmen. I can’t say enough about this senior class and how they’ve led and how they changed Woodland volleyball.”